Saskatchewan Minute: Issue 119

Saskatchewan Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Saskatchewan politics.

📅 This Week In Saskatchewan: 📅

• The Government of Saskatchewan has reported a $947-million deficit for the 2025-26 fiscal year, missing its budget target by nearly $1 billion after forecasting a $12-million surplus in last year's budget. Finance Minister Jim Reiter said revenue rose slightly on higher oil prices, but the gains were offset by higher than expected spending on health care and correctional facilities, along with the cost of fighting wildfires and evacuating communities. Revenue came in $77 million above projection, while spending rose by $1 billion over budget to $22 billion. The Province's debt grew by $1.5 billion to $17.2 billion. The shortfall is the largest since the $1.47-billion deficit recorded in 2022 and a significant jump from the $249-million deficit in 2024-25. NDP Opposition finance critic Trent Wotherspoon called it a "bogus budget", arguing the size of the missed forecast shows the government cannot be trusted with the Province's finances. The 2026-27 budget tabled this spring already forecasts a further $819.4-million deficit.
  
  
• Saskatchewan Justice Minister Tim McLeod has announced the provincial government intends to move toward administrative penalties, rather than criminal charges, for drivers who fail a roadside breath test. Under the proposed changes to the Traffic Safety Act, police officers would decide on the spot whether to pursue criminal charges, except in cases involving a collision or a passenger under 16, where Criminal Code charges would always proceed. Drivers who register a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher but are not charged criminally would face immediate licence suspension, vehicle impoundment, an ignition interlock, impaired driving education courses, demerits, and a $1,300 fine for a first offence, rising to $2,600 for subsequent offences. McLeod argued the approach gets impaired drivers off the streets faster while lightening the burden on the court system, and Regina police Chief Lorilee Davies said roadside sanctions will free up officers who would otherwise spend hours in court. Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada CEO Steve Sullivan noted that British Columbia introduced similar penalties in 2010, followed by Alberta, Manitoba, and New Brunswick, and that BC recorded a 50% decrease in impaired driving deaths in the decade that followed. Saskatchewan continues to have the second-highest rate of impaired driving in Canada, with an average of 37 people killed and 360 injured in impaired driving incidents each year. The new penalties would apply only to impairment by alcohol, with legislation expected in the fall.
  
  
• On another affordability front, Saskatchewan's minimum wage will rise 35 cents to $15.70 an hour on October 1st, the provincial government announced last Monday. The Province sets its minimum wage using an indexation formula tied to the Consumer Price Index. Even with the increase, Saskatchewan will still have the second-lowest minimum wage in the country, with Alberta the only province lower at $15 an hour, while the highest, in Nunavut, sits at $19.75. In its announcement, the Province also highlighted the affordability measures it has implemented as part of the most recent provincial budget, such as reducing the number of residents paying provincial income tax. Since the Saskatchewan Party formed government in 2007, the minimum wage has increased by $7.10, from $8.25 to the current $15.35.
  
  
• The Government of Saskatchewan has launched an innovation challenge seeking technology-based solutions to keep aquatic invasive species out of the province's waters. The winning applicant will receive a $30,000 grant and a 16-week residency, along with full commercial rights and an opportunity to test the technology in a real-world setting. The challenge is open to Saskatchewan-based researchers, tech companies, students, and entrepreneurs, and early-stage ideas are eligible to apply. The government says invasive species, zebra mussels in particular, are a growing threat in provincial waterways - the mussels have not yet established a population in Saskatchewan but are slowly spreading westward across North America. Warren Kaeding, the Minister responsible for Innovation Saskatchewan, argued the program lets innovators work with government as a partner and early customer to prove their solutions and accelerate a path to market. The Province says the five innovation challenges it has run since 2018 have led to the launch of four new companies and helped create about 30 jobs. Applications close August 14th, and a virtual information session on the challenge will be held this Wednesday.
  
  
• The Hospitals of Regina Foundation has donated $4 million to the University of Saskatchewan's College of Medicine to create a new pediatric research chair focused on the origins of health and disease. Foundation president and CEO Dino Sophocleous said it is the largest donation the foundation has ever made, and the organizations involved describe the gift as "unprecedented". The new chair will study how early-life factors, ranging from genetics to environmental exposure, contribute to the development of chronic diseases, with the aim of informing clinical care and improving disease prevention. The researcher hired for the role will be a faculty member at the College of Medicine and a practising pediatrician with the Saskatchewan Health Authority, caring for patients across the province. Dr. Terry Klassen, the provincial department head of pediatrics, believes the position will help build research capacity, strengthen collaboration across the province, and grow Saskatchewan's presence at the national and international levels. With the funding in place, recruitment now begins for an accomplished clinical researcher to lead the program.

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